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Light at the end of the tunnel for Florence High School, stadium repairs

Long-awaited repairs to FHS, Husky Stadium should be completed this year

By Carie Canterbury

canterburyc@canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
02/07/2014 05:18:54 PM MST

Florence-Penrose School Superintendent Rhonda Vendetti describes to school board members Bart Hall, Joe Caruso and Greg Dickey the repairs that need to be taken care of on the barrier wall of Husky Stadium in January at Florence High School. (Carie Canterbury/ Daily Record)

Florence — After a number of public and school board meetings, construction and architectural evaluations, lawyer consults and a years-long lawsuit, Florence-Penrose School District officials feel the long-awaited repairs at Florence High School and Husky Stadium soon may be completed.

The problems at high school began shortly after the state-of-the-art $18 million facility was built in 2006 and cracks appeared in several places, including the track and a significant shift in the commons area. Husky Stadium was closed in April 2011 when safety officials deemed it unsafe because the stairs, leading up from the track, moved away from the wall, and a barrier wall shifted forward. About four-and-a-half to six inches of movement was documented.

Contractors initially worked with the district to make repairs, but after problems became more severe, they told the district there was a two-year statute of limitations and they had no further obligation to make fixes.

In the summer of 2010, the district hired legal representation to file a lawsuit against the soils engineer CTL/Thompson; MGA Structural Engineers; Acorn Construction Company; and architects Christiansen, Reece & Partners, P.C.

The district settled out of court in 2013.

"By the time we paid everything that had to be paid to our lawyers and all of the peripheral stuff that had to be done in preparation for the lawsuit, we ended up with $1.7 million," Covington said. "We originally sued for $9 million."

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Superintendent Rhonda Vendetti said the $9 million would have fixed the structures to their brand-new condition.

"The $1.7 allows us to fix the recommended, high-priority repairs that Vertex Engineering has recommended," Vendetti said.

The board expects the stadium repairs to cost about $500,000. They will decide during Monday's meeting whether or not to move forward with the repair.

Vendetti said engineers have determined that there wasn't as much movement down the hill as there was "sluffing up," pushing up the front walkaway. Based on those findings, the engineering company, Vertex, said the stadium is not ADA compliant because of egress from the track to the stadium, the retaining wall and a "hump" in the walkway.

Covington said there are probably some voids underneath the stadium that need to be filled, but the front walk has heaved up and is no longer level, causing a potential safety hazard. The front retaining wall has heaved and broke, as well.

"The fix is to go in there and drill piers underneath that front walkway," Covington said. "I don't know if they will take it completely out, put piers down there and then repour that walkway, but they're going to have to send piers down all the way to bedrock — about 30 to 40 feet."

He said if the board agrees to move forward with the recommended fix, the hope is to have the stadium open before the May 25 graduation.

Repairs inside the school itself should be done this summer.

"There has only been one issue that we really were convinced was a safety issue, and that was the wall in the gym," Covington said. "As soon as we were aware of that, the board approved administration go ahead and do what needed to be done to fix that; everything else pretty much is cosmetic."

He said most of the repairs have taken place during school breaks.

Repairs that are completed include the heaving and cracking in the commons floor, carpet should be installed within a month; steel structural beams in the hallway by the wrestling room have been rewelded; cafeteria doors have been adjusted; and the wall in the gymnasium was repaired.

Expenses accumulated from repairs were covered by the lawsuit.

The only project left to do inside the school is to readjust the HVAC equipment in the basement.

Engineers believe there are a few contributing factors to the school's problems, however, Covington said widespread rumors that the school was built on an old dump site are false.

"The dump was quite a bit further south," he said. "I was out there when they were actually digging the basement area, and it's solid under there."

Engineers believe some of the issues could stem from water movement, he said.

"They haven't been able to come up with a definitive cause," he said. "One of the big theories in the beginning was when we built the school, we were in our third or fourth year of a pretty heavy drought, then right after we built the school, we had a year that was really wet."

He said companies have drilled holes around the school and a number of measurements have been taken.

"At some point, we probably are going to go and do some dirt work around the school to try and do a little sloping away from the school," he said. "I don'think we're positive that's what the problem is, but it's enough of a maybe that we could do some work so that water that does fall will flow off a little better and hopefully that will help."

He said grants are available that could help offset that cost.

Vendetti said the engineers also point a finger at highly expansive soil; when the piers were drilled for the building, bedrock could have been punctured, releasing aquifer; and the nature of the footprint of the building.

"When you cut the top off of a hill and then put a heavy structure there, and it isn't used to having that kind of weight and coverage, it changes the runoff," she said. "There are several contributing factors."

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